


Whither Thou Goest

by Medie



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-04
Updated: 2010-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:50:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medie/pseuds/Medie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For this moment she will honor Amanda's way and not her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whither Thou Goest

**Author's Note:**

> written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/where_no_woman/profile)[**where_no_woman**](http://community.livejournal.com/where_no_woman/) prompt "I come from a country without snow and without raspberries."

She does not go to the colony, not immediately.

Instead, she allows the others to rebuild, to see scattered colonies coalesce into one civilization once more. It is not that she wishes them failure. Far from it, in truth. She is entirely cognizant of the import of the attempt, she would not see a universe where Vulcan truly fell. The thought of such a reality cuts deep within, reaching down to a place beyond logic or _cthia_'s reach, evoking the instinct to scream out something which is equal parts horror and rage.

No, she does not wish them failure, but she is not quite ready to set foot on the new world. Not yet.

Not with another calling her name.

She is not without resource, even in the face of the apocalypse, the family's investments had spanned systems, ranging far beyond Vulcan's fiery shores. T'Pring taps into those resources and books passage to Earth.

There is a call that tradition demands she make. Or, to be precise, a call that tradition would have once demanded she make. By law, she is free from obligation now, released from the ties her childhood binding placed upon her, at least that is what tradition states.

Tradition, however, T'Pring is learning, is no more the end of obligation than logic is of wisdom. Merely the beginning. At any rate, some obligations transcend duty and tradition.

She does this for the Lady Amanda and, perhaps, for herself.

From space, high orbit, Earth is wholly alien. T'Pring sits quietly, waiting for the shuttle to take her to the surface, and stares at it without cease. The oceans fascinate her. Her eyes trace the wide swaths of blue with a gaze that is both analytical and awed all at once. To look at the Earth is to understand, perhaps, her mother-in-law (she will not dishonor Amanda by calling her any less) just a little more.

It is easy to see Amanda's strength in the sprawling oceans and landmasses, her elegance in the gentle drift of clouds which embrace them both, and feel her presence in the riot of ships and shuttles that zip across it all.

Surveying it, T'Pring experiences Amanda's loss anew. She does not grieve the cessation of her relationship with Spock. She will not suffer the dishonor of accepting the perception of herself as a burden anymore than she can truly consider this journey an obligation. Amanda had known her son's reluctance and had made overtures in her own way. She had, if her son had not, made T'Pring welcome as kin.

This, now this, T'Pring will grieve. She had not been eager to face her future role, but she had watched Amanda and allowed herself the simple thought of 'perhaps'.

Now that is gone, Amanda is gone, and she is alone.

She rises, gathering her cloak close and picking up her bag, at the chime of her shuttle. She is not surprised that the aliens around her (human and other alike) part to permit her passage. Whether they honor her survival or fear a place in her tragedy is not a debate she wishes to consider. She acknowledges the appearance of their courtesy with a nod and steps inside.

There, she takes the seat assigned her and places her bag beneath her seat. The final leg of her journey to Amanda's world passes in a brief instant of time. She could measure it, but she chooses not to. For this moment she will honor Amanda's way and not her own.

It is fitting to do so.

They land in a city on the North American east coast. T'Pring is not entirely certain where. She had intended upon visiting Amanda's home of Seattle, but had not concerned herself with the details of the journey.

Humans were not the only ones who prized the journey above the destination. Vulcans, too, found worth in such things.

The journey of discovering the world which had birthed Amanda had a worth T'Pring cannot describe. She stands on the tarmac, shiny and slick beneath her feet, shivering in the first chill of winter. This is not the winter of home where the light changed, T'Khut rode high on the night sky, and only the slightest suggestion of cold brushed the landscape.

No, this is different, cold and bracing, pushing a colour into her cheeks and driving her deeper within her cloak.

"First time, huh?" the attendant says, setting luggage at T'Pring's feet.

"Yes," T'Pring says. Her voice does not come easily. She has never dealt freely with strangers. "It is -- " She falls silent, considering, and then tries again. It is logical that he would recognize that this is she is within her first moments on this world, seeing many in such fashion each and every day.

"Word of advice," he says with a little smile, "buy yourself a nice warm coat. Outside of of Death Valley, not many places this side of the equator you're going to be comfortable in."

She accepts his advice with a nod. She does not tell him that, for now, she does not wish to be Vulcan. Allowing him to call an attendant, T'Pring looks up at the sky and feels the first flakes of snow fall against her skin.

The storm crowds in quickly after that. Standing before the window of her hotel room, waiting for her tea to brew, she watches the wall of white raging by. She has never seen such fury. The sand storms that had plagued the Forge had never reached the populated regions, held at bay by Vulcan ingenuity, keeping any sight akin to this from her eye.

The humans could do this as well. Such technology has been in their grasp for decades. That they do not confuses and delights. She turns from the snowstorm to the pleasant scent of her tea. It is an unusual blend, a berry, and another new discovery.

In time, there will be many more. Amanda had willingly surrendered her home once, embracing a world totally alien to her, T'Pring can do so now. Vulcan of old was torn from her grasp, splintering around her into dust, but there is another and she will surrender that in tribute.

"Here," T'Pring says, making her vow to the storm's fury, "I will remain here."

She cannot say, of course, but she chooses to believe Amanda would be pleased.


End file.
